Lady Matilda Maxwell

Burrell Collection Photo Library

Lady Matilda was the second daughter of Thomas Bruce (1766-1841), 7th Earl of Elgin. Her father was ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799 to 1803 and is remembered for removing marble friezes (now known as the Elgin Marbles) from the Parthenon in Athens and bringing them to Britain. Elgin lost his nose after being afflicted by the plague and divorced his young wife (Lady Matilda's mother) in 1808, after she had an affair.

Lady Matilda married Sir John Maxwell (1791-1865) the 8th Baronet of Pollok in 1839. The couple had no children and after Sir John's death their nephew William Stirling Maxwell (1818-1878) inherited.